Michigan Herps

 I arrived in Oakland County, Michigan at an early 8:45 AM with my friend Kyle to do some herping near the Huron Swamp and Pontiac Lake. Our target species for the day were the Northern Red-bellied Snake, Blue Racer, and the ever elusive Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake. The site we were visiting has healthy populations of all three species, so were optimistic to say the least. By 9 AM, we were in thick edges of a wet fen which is home to the Massasauga. We had seen several warning signs to be mindful of the rattlesnakes due to a bite that occured in the area two years earlier.

We were walking ankle deep in water when Kyle noticed our first herp of the day making a run for cover, it was a nice healthy Eastern Garter Snake. The snake was gorgeous and posed nicely for photographs.

Eastern Garter Snake

After trudging through tick infested brush, we decided to move to dryer environments to look for Blue Racers and Massasaugas that had started migrating upland. On our way to the upland prairie areas, we mad a pitstop near a small slough that was alive with the sounds of a myriad of frog species. I was walking near the waters edge when I spotted one of my favorites. There hidden under some long grass was a Blanding's Turtle (Emys blandingii) making his way to the waters edge. I brought him out into the sunlight for a few shots.

Blanding's Turtle found near the edge of a Slough

We decided to have a better look around the edge of the water and came across another turtle species, this time it was a lively little Eastern Painted Turtle. Kyle also caught a nice looking Northern Leopard Frog in the same spot.

Eastern Painted Turtle

Northern Leopard Frog

At around noon we headed to a large pond which was rumored to have a good number of Northern Water Snakes calling it home. The water was clear and deep, and the weedy edges served as perfect habitat for prey species of the water snake. The first thing we spotted was a pair of Bullfrogs in the weeds, with a little patience I managed to get a hold of both the male and the female.

American Bullfrog

Me with a Male & Female American Bullfrog

After releasing the two Bullfrogs, I caught eye of something moving across the surface of the pond. It appeared to be a serpent, so we moved to the edge of the pond where it was heading and waited for it to come up onto land. We figured it was a Water Snake, but Massasaugas are known to swim when they have to.

Northern Water Snake

The water snake was a nice two and half foot adult that seemed to be in great health. We decided to walk the edge of the pond to try and find more Water Snakes hiding in the long grass. To me, the coolest find of the trip was when we came across a nesting Blanding's Turtle in an embankment near the edge of the pond.

Blanding's Turtle

We kept walking the edges of the pond and kicked up a few nice Garters here and there. We got back to the boardwalk over the water, and that's when it happened. Water Snakes were everywhere. We must have seen a good dozen of them in a matter of ten minutes.

Northern Water Snake

We then spotted a large snake moving through the brush near the water's edge. It was a very large water snake, a female around three and a half feet in length. She was the largest Northern Water Snake I've seen.

Me with the Big Female Northern Water Snake

Several more water snakes were spotted, but we decided to move on and see what other herps we could find. Since we hadn't seen any Massasaugas in the fen earlier, we decided we would try the upland prairie that the Massasaugas use during the summer for breeding grounds. The area is about four or five acres and is not far from the fen at all.

Upland Prairie

We looked for a good hur without finding a Massasauga or racer, so we both split up. Kyle went to look for Red-bellies and I wanted to go check for any cover I could flip. I was down near a pond when I heard movement in the grass and came across this large female Eastern Garter Snake.

I walked a little further and finally came across something that I could flip. The spot looked really promising, so I decided to give it a try.

A promising looking Board

A Nice Looking Flipped Garter

All in all, the day was pretty successfull. No racers, rattlesnakes, or Red-bellies, but we didnt get to see a good variety of herps that I can't always see at my normal spots. The sun was getting low, but we had had fun. That's all that matters.

Species Observed:

• Eastern Garter Snake
• Northern Water Snake
• Common Snapping Turtle
• Eastern Painted Turtle
• Blanding's Turtle
• Green Frog
• Northern Leopard Frog
• American Bullfrog

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